Opioid overdoses spike 30 percent across nation — CDC report

07 March 2018

People who experience opioidoverdoses are more likely to experience another overdose in the future and return to the emergency room, the CDC said. A few sections of the nation experienced far more noteworthy increments than others while a couple of detailed decays, the examination appears.

"For every fatal case, there are many more nonfatal cases, each one with its own personal and economic toll", said Anne Schuchat, the CDC's acting director. First - news about opioid overdoses.

The Midwest has been the hardest hit, with an overall 70 percent increase in overdose treatment rates in emergency rooms, the data showed.

According to the CDC, overdoses kill about five people every hour across the US with the victims totalling 5,400 more in 2016 then the soldiers who died during the entire Vietnam war.

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"We're continually seeing a rise in deaths due to our inability to go upstream and actually prevent these people from overdosing", Miller said. "But the substances are more risky than five years ago", Schuchat says.

The supply of those more unsafe drugs is increasing faster in some parts of the country than in others, which may help explain the geographic variations, Schuchat says.

The Trump administration launched an opioid commission previous year, which produced 56 recommendations for how the nation can move forward in addressing this epidemic. Schuchat called these services "essential hubs" in stemming the opioid crisis.

It also found substantial overdose increases among most demographic groups.

"It's kind of like pointing to a burning building and saying, 'Oh, there's a fire there. There's a crisis.' And then not calling the fire office and watching it burn to the ground", Kolodny says. "There's been a lot of talk from Congress and from the administration and a recognition that we need to do something about this problem. Be that as it may, nothing yet has happened". "This report confirms what health care providers, treatment specialists, and law enforcement have been telling me - this crisis is getting worse not better".

STEIN: Too often, she says, addicts are simply revived and sent home only to overdose again.

These latest numbers follow a recent CDC analysis that showed the opioid crisis already has led to a decrease in the average American's life expectancy.

The CDC concluded in their report that emergency room data can serve as "an early warning system, alerting communities to changes in prevalence of overdoses and permitting a timely, informed and localized response".

Schuchat said she is cautiously optimistic that strategies implemented in these states to combat opioid addiction may be working.